Oregon prison guard allegedly opened inmates' cells to allow assaults by gang members

The state agreed to pay a former prisoner $135,000 to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit after a guard allowed other prisoners to enter the man's cell and beat him without any result.

The assault took place in October 2020 at the Oregon State Correctional Institution, Salem's medium security state prison.

Kevin R. Walls was returning to his Unit 4 cell after lunch and signaled Correctional Officer Kevin J. Bowser to open the door to allow him inside.

Bowser opened the door, but when Walls entered, Bowser failed to close it behind him as officers normally did, according to the suit. This allowed two or three other prisoners to follow Walls inside, according to the complaint.

The assault lasted approximately five minutes. Walls suffered blows to the face, head and body and required medical treatment for rib injuries, according to the complaint.

“At one point, while Mr. Walls was on all fours on the ground, trying to crawl to the door, the attackers shouted, 'Don't let him get up!' “Don’t let him out!” » and “Catch him!” Despite the noise, no one came to Mr. Walls’ aid,” the suit states.

Bowser was fired from the state Department of Corrections in February 2022 and the lawsuit was filed in June of that year, according to state records. Bowser has not been charged with any criminal offense.

Bowser had worked as a correctional officer since May 2002.

Another federal civil suit is pending against the Department of Corrections, involving the same guard. In that case, two other prisoners, Ricky Exe and Dustin Clark, allege they were assaulted in their cells because Bowser allowed inmates involved in prison gangs access to their cells.

According to state records, Bowser engaged in “negligent security practices,” distributed painkillers that were not prescribed to prisoners and allowed prisoners access to other contraband. He also lied during an investigative interview, according to a document filed with state Corrections Supervisor Lt. Anthony Asay with the state Department of Public Safety Standards and Training.

As part of the settlement in Walls' case, the corrections department admits no wrongdoing or liability, according to a filing from Assistant Attorney General Dylan Hallman.

Walls, now 63, is no longer in custody. He has a previous conviction for attempted first-degree sexual abuse. He was convicted of other charges in a separate case, but the verdicts were returned by a non-unanimous jury and overturned.

“This is an enormous loss that could have easily been avoided,” said Maya Rinta, one of Walls’ attorneys.

She said the practice of guards “breaking cells” to allow prisoners to assault another is not isolated to Walls' experience.

“I think Mr. Walls had the courage to come forward because we filed this complaint while he was in custody,” Rinta said. “If the Oregon Department of Corrections wants to do the right thing, they will be transparent about what happened and proactive about what is happening to people to prevent this from happening again.”

The state Department of Corrections declined to comment on the settlement or Walls' lawsuit, said Amber R. Campbell, a department spokeswoman.

In the other ongoing federal civil case, two other prisoners at the Oregon State Correctional Institution, Ricky Exe and Dustin Clark, allege they were assaulted in their cells because Bowser also allowed inmates involved in prison gangs to access their cells. Attorney John Burgess filed the lawsuit on behalf of Exe and Clark.

Exe was assaulted twice in his cell by members of the Kindred European prison gang in August 2020 following Bowser's actions, according to his lawsuit. Exe claims he was targeted because he was a so-called “dropout” from the European Kindred gang. He said he was sleeping in his cell when he alleges Bowser opened it and let in several gang members who “viciously” attacked him, according to his complaint.

“Bowser opened cells remotely so that members of the EK (European Kindred) gang could enter the cells of other inmates and assault them,” attorney John Burgess wrote in the complaint.

Clark said he was assaulted in his cell in September 2020 when Bowser allowed other inmates to attack him, according to the suit.

Bowser's attorney, Andrew Campbell, in response to the lawsuit filed by Exe and Clark, countered that any injuries Exe or Clark suffered while in custody resulted from the actions of others and not his client, according to court documents .

— Maxine Bernstein covers federal court and criminal justice. Contact her at 503-221-8212, [email protected], follow her on @maxoregonianor on LinkedIn.

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